Defining and extracting a flat list of search properties from a rich structured type

ABSTRACT

Rich structured data for items in a file system that allows different kinds of data to be identified by metadata is mapped into a set of search properties for a desktop search service, which is a flat list. This is applicable to any rich structured data that should be mapped into search properties for a desktop search service. Included is an installation mechanism to install these mappings and an execution infrastructure for utilizing the generated SQL from the mappings to extract search properties from items.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND PERMISSION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document may contain materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever. The following notice shall apply to this document:Copyright © 2006, Microsoft Corp.

BACKGROUND

Storage systems such as WinFS (Microsoft Windows® Future Storage orMicrosoft Windows® File System), for example, allow different kinds ofdata to be identified by metadata and uses it to set up relationshipsamong data, thereby giving a semantic structure to the data. Theserelationships can then be used by a relational database to enablesearching and dynamic aggregation of the data, allowing the data to bepresented in a variety of ways. WinFS includes a relational databaseengine, derived from the Microsoft® SQL Server 2005 (SQL) databaseplatform, to facilitate this.

However, to allow applications to search and categorize data in suchstorage systems without knowledge of the structure of the defined typesof the different kinds of data in the system, there is a need for asystem that provides applications the ability to just operate on asingle set of search properties rather than operating on the individualtypes. Also, there is a need for independent software vendors (ISVs) forsuch file systems to be able to pick the metadata/search properties fortheir types without compromising their item schema design.

Thus, needed are processes and a system that addresses the shortcomingsof the prior art.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

In consideration of the above-identified shortcomings of the art,defining, mapping and extracting a flat list of search properties from arich structured type is provided. For several embodiments, a method forproviding search properties of data comprises providing mappings ofsearch properties of an item of a defined rich structured data type to acorresponding second set of other individual search properties utilizedby a database search system. The mappings are then stored and extractinga corresponding second set of other individual search properties for theitem are extracted using the mappings. The extracted correspondingsecond set of other individual search properties are exposed throughmechanisms of the database search system whenever an item of the definedtype is created or modified.

Also, a system for providing search properties of data comprises an XMLsyntax structure for defining the mappings of search properties of anitem of a defined rich structured data type to a corresponding secondset of other individual search properties utilized by a database searchsystem, an installation mechanism configured to install such mappings,an execution infrastructure configured to generate query languagemapping statements corresponding to the mappings to extract saidcorresponding second set of other individual search properties, and amechanism configured to expose the extracted corresponding second set ofother individual search properties for the item whenever an item of thedefined rich structured data type is created or modified.

Other advantages and features of the invention are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Defining and extracting a flat list of search properties from a richstructured type is further described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing an exemplary computing devicesuitable for use in conjunction with defining and extracting a flat listof search properties from a rich structured type;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary networked computing environment in whichmany computerized processes may be implemented to perform defining andextracting a flat list of search properties from a rich structured type;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary type hierarchy;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example use of predefinedtypes in defining a new type;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary relation stored as areference to a particular row in the table of an item;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary relationship betweentwo items;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating as an example the alignment ofMicrosoft Windows® File System (WinFS®) content in a Microsoft Windows®Desktop Search (WDS);

FIG. 8 is an example of XML code for search property mappings; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating search property extraction andstorage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain specific details are set forth in the following description andfigures to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments ofthe invention. Certain well-known details often associated withcomputing and software technology are not set forth in the followingdisclosure to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the various embodiments ofthe invention. Further, those of ordinary skill in the relevant art willunderstand that they can practice other embodiments of the inventionwithout one or more of the details described below. Finally, whilevarious methods are described with reference to steps and sequences inthe following disclosure, the description as such is for providing aclear implementation of embodiments of the invention, and the steps andsequences of steps should not be taken as required to practice thisinvention.

Example Computing Environments

Referring to FIG. 1, shown is a block diagram representing an exemplarycomputing device suitable for use in conjunction with implementing theprocesses described above. For example, the computer executableinstructions that carry out the processes and methods for defining andextracting a flat list of search properties from a rich structured typemay reside and/or be executed in such a computing environment as shownin FIG. 1. The computing system environment 220 is only one example of asuitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention.Neither should the computing environment 220 be interpreted as havingany dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination ofcomponents illustrated in the exemplary operating environment 220. Forexample a computer game console may also include those items such asthose described below for use in conjunction with implementing theprocesses described above.

Aspects of the invention are operational with numerous other generalpurpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of well known computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the inventioninclude, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers,hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,distributed computing environments that include any of the above systemsor devices, and the like.

Aspects of the invention may be implemented in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Aspects ofthe invention may also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotecomputer storage media including memory storage devices.

An exemplary system for implementing aspects of the invention includes ageneral purpose computing device in the form of a computer 241.Components of computer 241 may include, but are not limited to, aprocessing unit 259, a system memory 222, and a system bus 221 thatcouples various system components including the system memory to theprocessing unit 259. The system bus 221 may be any of several types ofbus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By wayof example, and not limitation, such architectures include IndustryStandard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus,Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA)local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus also known asMezzanine bus.

Computer 241 typically includes a variety of computer readable media.Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessedby computer 241 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media,removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatileand nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium which can be used to store the desired informationand which can accessed by computer 241. Communication media typicallyembodies computer readable instructions, data structures, programmodules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier waveor other transport mechanism and includes any information deliverymedia. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one ormore of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,communication media includes wired media such as a wired network ordirect-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF,infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

The system memory 222 includes computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 223and random access memory (RAM) 260. A basic input/output system 224(BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within computer 241, such as during start-up, istypically stored in ROM 223. RAM 260 typically contains data and/orprogram modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presentlybeing operated on by processing unit 259. By way of example, and notlimitation, FIG. 1 illustrates operating system 225, applicationprograms 226, other program modules 227, and program data 228.

The computer 241 may also include other removable/non-removable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,FIG. 1 illustrates a hard disk drive 238 that reads from or writes tonon-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive 239that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk 254,and an optical disk drive 240 that reads from or writes to a removable,nonvolatile optical disk 253 such as a CD ROM or other optical media.Other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storagemedia that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include,but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards,digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solidstate ROM, and the like. The hard disk drive 238 is typically connectedto the system bus 221 through an non-removable memory interface such asinterface 234, and magnetic disk drive 239 and optical disk drive 240are typically connected to the system bus 221 by a removable memoryinterface, such as interface 235.

The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed aboveand illustrated in FIG. 1, provide storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputer 241. In FIG. 1, for example, hard disk drive 238 is illustratedas storing operating system 258, application programs 257, other programmodules 256, and program data 255. Note that these components can eitherbe the same as or different from operating system 225, applicationprograms 226, other program modules 227, and program data 228. Operatingsystem 258, application programs 257, other program modules 256, andprogram data 255 are given different numbers here to illustrate that, ata minimum, they are different copies. A user may enter commands andinformation into the computer 241 through input devices such as akeyboard 251 and pointing device 252, commonly referred to as a mouse,trackball or touch pad. Other input devices (not shown) may include amicrophone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like.These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit259 through a user input interface 236 that is coupled to the systembus, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such asa parallel port, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor242 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus221 via an interface, such as a video interface 232. In addition to themonitor, computers may also include other peripheral output devices suchas speakers 244 and printer 243, which may be connected through a outputperipheral interface 233.

The computer 241 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer246. The remote computer 246 may be a personal computer, a server, arouter, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, andtypically includes many or all of the elements described above relativeto the computer 241, although only a memory storage device 247 has beenillustrated in FIG. 1. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 1include a local area network (LAN) 245 and a wide area network (WAN)249, but may also include other networks. Such networking environmentsare commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranetsand the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 241 is connectedto the LAN 245 through a network interface or adapter 237. When used ina WAN networking environment, the computer 241 typically includes amodem 250 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN249, such as the Internet. The modem 250, which may be internal orexternal, may be connected to the system bus 221 via the user inputinterface 236, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 241, orportions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. Byway of example, and not limitation, FIG. 1 illustrates remoteapplication programs 248 as residing on memory device 247. It will beappreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and othermeans of establishing a communications link between the computers may beused.

It should be understood that the various techniques described herein maybe implemented in connection with hardware or software or, whereappropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatusof the invention, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take theform of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media,such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any othermachine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loadedinto and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomesan apparatus for practicing the invention. In the case of program codeexecution on programmable computers, the computing device generallyincludes a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor(including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), atleast one input device, and at least one output device. One or moreprograms that may implement or utilize the processes described inconnection with the invention, e.g., through the use of an API, reusablecontrols, or the like. Such programs are preferably implemented in ahigh level procedural or object oriented programming language tocommunicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can beimplemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case,the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combinedwith hardware implementations.

Although exemplary embodiments may refer to utilizing aspects of theinvention in the context of one or more stand-alone computer systems,the invention is not so limited, but rather may be implemented inconnection with any computing environment, such as a network ordistributed computing environment. Still further, aspects of theinvention may be implemented in or across a plurality of processingchips or devices, and storage may similarly be effected across aplurality of devices. Such devices might include personal computers,network servers, handheld devices, supercomputers, or computersintegrated into other systems such as automobiles and airplanes.

In light of the diverse computing environments that may be builtaccording to the general framework provided in FIG. 1, the systems andmethods provided herein cannot be construed as limited in any way to aparticular computing architecture. Instead, the invention should not belimited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed inbreadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims.

Referring next to FIG. 2, shown is an exemplary networked computingenvironment in which many computerized processes may be implemented toperform the processes described above. For example, parallel computingmay be part of such a networked environment with various clients on thenetwork of FIG. 2 using and/or implementing the defining and extractingof a flat list of search properties from a rich structured type. One ofordinary skill in the art can appreciate that networks can connect anycomputer or other client or server device, or in a distributed computingenvironment. In this regard, any computer system or environment havingany number of processing, memory, or storage units, and any number ofapplications and processes occurring simultaneously is consideredsuitable for use in connection with the systems and methods provided.

Distributed computing provides sharing of computer resources andservices by exchange between computing devices and systems. Theseresources and services include the exchange of information, cachestorage and disk storage for files. Distributed computing takesadvantage of network connectivity, allowing clients to leverage theircollective power to benefit the entire enterprise. In this regard, avariety of devices may have applications, objects or resources that mayimplicate the processes described herein.

FIG. 2 provides a schematic diagram of an exemplary networked ordistributed computing environment. The environment comprises computingdevices 271, 272, 276, and 277 as well as objects 273, 274, and 275, anddatabase 278. Each of these entities 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277and 278 may comprise or make use of programs, methods, data stores,programmable logic, etc. The entities 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277and 278 may span portions of the same or different devices such as PDAs,audio/video devices, MP3 players, personal computers, etc. Each entity271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277 and 278 can communicate with anotherentity 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277 and 278 by way of thecommunications network 270. In this regard, any entity may beresponsible for the maintenance and updating of a database 278 or otherstorage element.

This network 270 may itself comprise other computing entities thatprovide services to the system of FIG. 2, and may itself representmultiple interconnected networks. In accordance with an aspect of theinvention, each entity 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277 and 278 maycontain discrete functional program modules that might make use of anAPI, or other object, software, firmware and/or hardware, to requestservices of one or more of the other entities 271, 272, 273, 274, 275,276, 277 and 278.

It can also be appreciated that an object, such as 275, may be hosted onanother computing device 276. Thus, although the physical environmentdepicted may show the connected devices as computers, such illustrationis merely exemplary and the physical environment may alternatively bedepicted or described comprising various digital devices such as PDAs,televisions, MP3 players, etc., software objects such as interfaces, COMobjects and the like.

There are a variety of systems, components, and network configurationsthat support distributed computing environments. For example, computingsystems may be connected together by wired or wireless systems, by localnetworks or widely distributed networks. Currently, many networks arecoupled to the Internet, which provides an infrastructure for widelydistributed computing and encompasses many different networks. Any suchinfrastructures, whether coupled to the Internet or not, may be used inconjunction with the systems and methods provided.

A network infrastructure may enable a host of network topologies such asclient/server, peer-to-peer, or hybrid architectures. The “client” is amember of a class or group that uses the services of another class orgroup to which it is not related. In computing, a client is a process,i.e., roughly a set of instructions or tasks, that requests a serviceprovided by another program. The client process utilizes the requestedservice without having to “know” any working details about the otherprogram or the service itself. In a client/server architecture,particularly a networked system, a client is usually a computer thataccesses shared network resources provided by another computer, e.g., aserver. In the example of FIG. 2, any entity 271, 272, 273, 274, 275,276, 277 and 278 can be considered a client, a server, or both,depending on the circumstances.

A server is typically, though not necessarily, a remote computer systemaccessible over a remote or local network, such as the Internet. Theclient process may be active in a first computer system, and the serverprocess may be active in a second computer system, communicating withone another over a communications medium, thus providing distributedfunctionality and allowing multiple clients to take advantage of theinformation-gathering capabilities of the server. Any software objectsmay be distributed across multiple computing devices or objects.

Client(s) and server(s) communicate with one another utilizing thefunctionality provided by protocol layer(s). For example, HyperTextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) is a common protocol that is used inconjunction with the World Wide Web (WWW), or “the Web.” Typically, acomputer network address such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address orother reference such as a Universal Resource Locator (URL) can be usedto identify the server or client computers to each other. The networkaddress can be referred to as a URL address. Communication can beprovided over a communications medium, e.g., client(s) and server(s) maybe coupled to one another via TCP/IP connection(s) for high-capacitycommunication.

In light of the diverse computing environments that may be builtaccording to the general framework provided in FIG. 2 and the furtherdiversification that can occur in computing in a network environmentsuch as that of FIG. 2, the systems and methods provided herein cannotbe construed as limited in any way to a particular computingarchitecture or operating system. Instead, the invention should not belimited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed inbreadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims.

Microsoft Windows® File System (WinFS®)

Although the concepts, ideas and features described herein are describedin an exemplary fashion with respect to how they are implemented in afile system called Microsoft Windows® Future Storage or MicrosoftWindows® File System (WinFS) and the Microsoft Windows Vista® operatingsystem (formerly code-named “Longhorn”), implementations in andapplicability to other operating and file systems are contemplated,entirely possible and apparent to those skilled in the art based on theexemplary descriptions provided herein. Provided below is a backgroundand overview of WinFS largely from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinFSincluding description of the data storage, data model, type system,relationships, rules, access control, data retrieval, search and datasharing aspects of WinFS.

WinFS is a data storage and management system based on relationaldatabases, developed by Microsoft Corp. (headquartered in Redmond,Wash.) for use as an advanced storage subsystem for the MicrosoftWindows® operating system.

Implemented on top of the NT File System (NTFS), one of the file systemsfor the Microsoft Windows NT® operating system, WinFS is a centralizeddata store for the Microsoft Windows® platform. It allows differentkinds of data to be identified by metadata and uses them to set uprelationships among data, thereby giving a semantic structure to thedata. These relationships can then be used by a relational database toenable searching and dynamic aggregation of the data, allowing the datato be presented in a variety of ways. WinFS includes a relationaldatabase engine, derived from the Microsoft® SQL Server 2005 (SQL)database platform, to facilitate this.

Previously, file systems viewed files and other file system objects onlyas a stream of bytes, and had no information regarding the data that isstored in the files. They also provided only a single way of organizingthe files, and that is via folders and file names. Because such a filesystem has no knowledge about the data it stores, the applicationscreating the file tend to use specific, often proprietary, file formats,i.e., the data can be interpreted only by the application that createdit. This leads to proliferation of application-specific file formats andhampers sharing of data between multiple applications. It becomesdifficult to create an application which processes information frommultiple file types because the programmers have to understand thestructure of all the files where the source data could reside and thenfigure out how to filter out the necessary information from all theinformation that will be stored in the file. If more than one file typestores the same data in different formats, it becomes necessary toconvert them to a single format before they can be used. Though commonfile formats can be used as a workaround to this problem, they do notpresent a universal solution; there is no guarantee that any givenapplication will be able to access the data.

As a result of the above mentioned properties of file systems, data frommultiple applications cannot be easily aggregated. The only knowledgethat the file system has about the data is the name of the file the datais stored in. As a result of this, file systems can retrieve and searchdata based only on the filename. A better solution would be the use ofrich properties, independently exposed by each file, recognizable byeither the file system natively, or via some extension. Rich propertiesare metadata about the files such as type of file (e.g., document,picture, music etc.), creator, artist, etc. This allows files to besearched for by its rich properties, in ways not possible using only thefolder hierarchy, such as finding “pictures which have person X”.Desktop search applications take this concept a step further. They indexthe files, including the rich properties and, using file filters,extract data from different file formats. Different filters have to beused for different file formats. This allows for searching on both thefile's rich properties and the data contained in the file.

However, they still don't promote data sharing as the data they extractis stored in a format specific to the desktop search application, in aformat which enables fast searching. Desktop search applications canonly find information, and can't help users with anything that needs tobe done with the searched information. Also, this approach doesn't solvethe problem of aggregating data from two or more applications. Forexample, it is nearly impossible to search for “the phone numbers of allpersons who lives in some city X and has more than 100 appearances in mycollection of photos and with whom I have had e-mail within last month.”Such a search encompasses data across three applications—address bookfor phone numbers and address, photo manager for information on whoappears in which photo, and the e-mail application to know the e-mailacquaintances.

This is where WinFS comes into effect. The artificial organization usingnames and location is done away with, and a more natural organization iscreated, one using rich properties to describe the data in files and therelation of that data with other data. By creating a unified datastore,it promotes sharing and reuse of data between different applications.The advantage is that any application, or even the file browser, canunderstand files created by any application. Addition of rich propertieswill give further meaning to the data, such as “which persons appear inwhich pictures,” and “the person an e-mail was addressed to.” But,instead of viewing the pictures and e-mails and files, WinFS recognizespicture, and e-mail to be specific types of data, which are related toperson using the relation “of some person.” So, by following therelation, a picture can be used to aggregate e-mails from all thepersons in the picture and, conversely, an e-mail can aggregate allpictures in which the addressee appears in. WinFS extends this tounderstand any arbitrary types of data and the relations that hold themtogether. The types and relations have to be specified by theapplication that stores the data, or the user, and WinFS organizes thedata accordingly.

WinFS stores data in virtual locations called stores. A WinFS store is acommon repository where every application will store their data, alongwith its metadata, relationships and information on how to interpret thedata. In this way, WinFS does away with the folder hierarchy, and allowssearching across the entire repository of data.

WinFS store is actually a relational store, where applications can storetheir structured as well as unstructured data. Based on the meta-data(metadata), type of data, and also the relationships of the data withother data as will be specified by the application or the user, WinFSwill assign a relational structure to the data. By using therelationships, WinFS aggregates related data. WinFS provides a unifiedstorage but stops short of defining the format that is to be stored inthe data stores. Instead, it supports data to be written in applicationspecific formats. But applications must provide a schema that defineshow the file format should be interpreted. For example, a schema couldbe added to allow WinFS to understand how to read and thus be able tosearch and analyze, say, a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. By usingthe schema, any application can read data from any other application,and also allows different applications from writing in each other'sformat by sharing the schema.

Multiple WinFS stores can be created on a single machine. This allowsdifferent classes of data to be kept segregated, for example, officialdocuments and personal documents can be kept in different stores. WinFS,by default, provides only one store, named “DefaultStore.” WinFS storesare exposed as shell objects, akin to virtual folders, which dynamicallygenerates a list of all items present in the store and presents them ina folder view. The shell object also allows searching information in thedatastore.

WinFS is not a physical file system. Rather, it provides rich datamodeling capabilities on top of the NTFS file system. It still uses NTFSto store its data in physical files. WinFS uses a relational engine,which is derived from Microsoft® SQL Server 2005, to provide the datarelations mechanism, as the relation system in WinFS is very similar tothe relation system used in relational databases. WinFS stores are SQLServer database (.MDF) files with the FILESTREAM attribute set. Thesefiles are stored in secured folder named “System Volume Information”placed into the volume root, in folders under the folder “WinFS” withnames of GUIDs of these stores.

WinFS also allows programmatic access to its features, for example, viaa set of Microsoft® .NET (.NET) application programming interfaces(APIs), that enables applications to define custom made data types,define relationships among data, store and retrieve information, andallow advanced searches. The applications can then use novel ways ofaggregating data and presenting the aggregated data to the user.

WinFS Data Storage

A data unit that has to be stored in a WinFS store is called a WinFSitem. A WinFS item, along with the core data item, also containsinformation on how the data item is related with other data. WinFSallows Items and Fragments to be related together in different ways. Thedifferent types of relationships are:

-   -   Containment: Containment is an owning relationship. In an owning        relationship there is a parent entity and an child entity    -   Item References: ItemReferences are a Fragment type that define        an relationship that contains data between two item instances        based on the items keys (ItemId). The ItemReferences are        directed—one item is the source of the ItemReference and the        other item is the target.    -   Condition based association: Condition based association enable        declaration of relationships between items that are based on a        value of a condition. The condition is an expression that uses        values of the properties of the related items types.

WinFS helps in unification of data and thus reduce redundancies. Ifdifferent applications store data in a non interoperable way, data hasto be duplicated across applications which deal with same data. Forexample, if more than one e-mail application is used, the list ofcontacts must be duplicated across the two. So, when there is any needfor updating contact information, it must be done at two places. If, bymistake, it is not updated in one of the applications, it will continueto have outdated information. But with WinFS, an application can storeall the contact information in a WinFS store, and supply the schema inwhich it is stored. Then other applications can use the stored data. Bydoing so, duplicate data is removed, and with it the hassles of manuallysynchronizing all instances of the data.

WinFS Data Model

WinFS models data using the data items, along with its relationships,fragments and rules governing its usage. WinFS needs to understand thetype and structure of the data items, so that the information stored inthe data item can be made available to any application that requests it.This is done by the use of schemas. For every type of data item that isto be stored in WinFS, a corresponding schema needs to be provided whichwill define the type, structure and associations of the data. Theseschemas are defined, for example, using Extensible Markup Language(XML). XML allows designers to create their own customized tags,enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation ofdata between applications and between organizations.

Predefined WinFS schemas include schemas for messages, contacts,calendars, file items etc and also includes system schemas that includeconfiguration, programs, and other system-related data. Custom schemascan be defined on a per-application basis, in situations where anapplication wants to store its data in WinFS, but not share thestructure of that data with other applications, or they can be madeavailable across the system.

WinFS Type System

The most important difference between other file systems and WinFS isthat WinFS knows the type of each data item that it stores, and the typespecifies the properties of the data item. The WinFS type system isclosely associated with the .NET Framework's concept of classes andinheritance. A new type can be created by extending and nesting anypredefined types.

Referring next to FIG. 3, shown is a block diagram illustrating anexemplary type hierarchy. Shown is item 301 that has three other itemtypes deriving from it—contact 305, document 309 and picture 307.

In particular, WinFS provides four predefined base types: Items,Relationships, ScalarTypes and ComplexTypes. An Item is the fundamentaldata object, which can be stored, and a Relationship is the relation orlink between two data items. Generally, since all WinFS items must havea type, the type of item stored defines its properties. The propertiesof an Item may be a ScalarType, which defines the smallest unit ofinformation a property can have, or a ComplexType, which is a collectionof more than one ScalarTypes and/or ComplexTypes. All WinFS types aremade available as .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) classes. CLR is thecore runtime engine in the Microsoft® .NET Framework for executingapplications.

Any object represented as a data unit, such as contact, picture,document, etc, can be stored in a WinFS store as a specialization of theItem type. By default, WinFS provides Item types for Files, Contacts,Calendar, and Messages etc. The File Item can store any generic data,which is stored in file systems as files. The file item may not bespecialized/derived from but a WinFS schema can be provided to extend itusing fragments that are added on to particular instances of File items.A file Item can also support being related to other Items. A developercan extend any of these types, or the base type Item, to provide a typefor his or her custom data.

Referring next to FIG. 4, shown is a block diagram illustrating anexample use of the predefined types in defining a new type. The datacontained in an Item is defined in terms of properties, or fields whichhold the actual data. For example, an Item Contact 401 may have a fieldName 403 which is a ScalarType, and one field Address 405, aComplexType, which is further composed of two ScalarTypes Street 407 andCity 409. To define this type, the base class Item is extended and thenecessary fields are added to the class. A ComplexType field can bedefined as another class which contains the two ScalarType fields. Oncethe type is defined, a schema has to be defined, which denotes theprimitive type of each field, for example, the Name field 403 is aString, the Address field 405 is a custom defined Address class, boththe fields of which 407 409 are Strings. Other primitive types thatWinFS supports are Integer, Byte, Decimal, Float, Double, Boolean andDateTime, among others. The schema will also define which fields aremandatory and which are optional. The Contact Item 401 defined in thisway will be used to store information regarding the Contact, bypopulating the properties field and storing it. Only those fields markedas mandatory needs to be filled up during initial save. Other fields maybe populated later by the user, or not populated at all. If moreproperties fields, such as “last conversed date”, needs to be added,this type can be simply extended to accommodate them. Item types forother data can be defined similarly.

Referring next to FIG. 5, shown is a block diagram illustrating anexemplary relation stored as a reference to a particular row in thetable of an item. WinFS creates a table 501 for all defined Items 505.All the fields defined for the Item 505 form the columns 509 of thetable 501 and all instances of the Item 505 are stored as rows 511 inthe table 501 for the respective Item 505. A Relation 513 is stored as areference to the particular row 515 in the table of the Item 517, whichholds the instance of the target Item 517 with which the current Item505 is related. All Items 505 517 are exposed as .NET CLR objects, withuniform interface providing access to the data stored in the fields.Thus any application can retrieve object of any Item type and can usethe data in the object, without being bothered about the physicalstructure the data was stored in.

WinFS Relationships

Items can be related to one more other items, giving rise to aone-to-one relationship, or with more than one item, resulting in aone-to-many relationship. The related items, in turn, may be related toother data items as well, resulting in a network of relationships, whichis called a many-to-many relationship. Creating a relationship betweentwo items creates another field in the data of the items concerned,which refer to the row in the other item's table where the relatedobject is stored.

In WinFS, a Relationship can be one of the following:

Containment:

Item References:

Condition based association:

Referring next to FIG. 6, shown is a block diagram illustrating anexemplary relationship between two items (Item Reference). ARelationship 605 represents a mapping 607 between two items, a Source601 (e.g., a picture item) and a Target 603 (a e.g., a contact item).From the point of view of the Source item 601, the relationship is anOutgoing Relationship, whereas from that of the target item 603, it isan Incoming Relationship. Relationships are bidirectional, which meansthat if Source 601 is related with Target 603, the Target 603 is alsorelated with the Source 601. WinFS provides three types of primitiverelationships—Containment, ItemReference, Condition based association.

-   -   Containment: Containment is an owning relationship. In an owning        relationship there is a parent entity and an child entity    -   Item References: ItemReferences are a Fragment type that define        an relationship that contains data between two item instances        based on the items keys (ItemId). The ItemReferences are        directed—one item is the source of the ItemReference and the        other item is the target.    -   Condition based association: Condition based association enable        declaration of relationships between items that are based on a        value of a condition. The condition is an expression that uses        values of the properties of the related items types.

WinFS Rules

WinFS includes Rules, which are executed when certain condition is met.WinFS rules work on data and data relationships. For example, a rule canbe created which states that whenever an Item is created which containsfield “Name” and if the value of that field is some particular name, arelationship should be created which relates the Item with some otherItem. WinFS rules can also access any external application. For example,a rule can be built which launches a Notify application whenever a mailis received from a particular contact. WinFS rules can also be used toadd new properties fields to existing data Items.

WinFS rules are also exposed as .NET CLR objects. As such any rule canbe used for any other purposes. They can be even extended by inheritingthem to form a new rule which consists of the condition and action ofthe parent rule plus something more or new.

WinFS Access Control

Even though all data is shared, everything is not equally accessible.WinFS uses Microsoft® Windows' authentication system to provide two dataprotection mechanisms. First, there is share-level security thatcontrols access to the WinFS share. Second, there is item level securitythat supports Microsoft® Windows NT compatible security descriptors. Theprocess accessing the item must have enough privileges to access it.Also in Microsoft® Windows Vista, there is the concept of “integritylevel” for an application. A higher integrity data cannot be accessed bya lower integrity process.

WinFS Data Retrieval

The primary mode of data retrieval from a WinFS store is searching forthe required data and enumerating through the set of Items that has beenreturned. WinFS also supports retrieval of the entire collection ofItems that is stored in the WinFS store, or returning a subset of itwhich matches the criteria that has been queried for.

WinFS makes all data available as CLR objects. So the data retrieved,which is encapsulated as an object, has intrinsic awareness of itself.By using the abstraction provided by use of objects, it presents auniform interface to hide its physical layout and still allowapplications to retrieve the data in an application-independent format,or to get information about the data such as its author, type, and itsrelations.

For each Item that has been returned, WinFS can also return a set ofRelations which specify the Relations the Item is involved in. WinFS canreturn all the relations of the Item, or can return Relations thatconform to a queried criterion. For each pair or Item and Relation,WinFS can retrieve the Item which forms the other end of the Relation.Thus, by traversing the Relations of an Item, all the Items that arerelated with the Item can be retrieved.

WinFS Search

WinFS application programming interface (API) provides a class calledthe ItemContext class, which is used to query for and update WinFSItems. The criterion for the query is expressed using an ESQL (EntitySQL) query string, which is derived from Transact SQL (TSQL) and extendsit with additional support for rich types, collections and objects. Asan example, the following query will return a collection of messageslocated in a folder given the folder's ItemId (@itemId) and that has aTitle that starts with a specified string:

select msg from OfType(Items, System.Storage.Message) as msg

where msg.Title like “Travel to %” and ContainerItemId=@itemId

The above statement is very similar to a transact SQL statement with theaddition of a new operator oftype. Joins, order by group by, aggregatefunctions, nested queries can also be used in ESQL. ESQL however doesnot provide 100% compatibility with TSQL.

An ESQL query can specify a single search condition or a compoundcondition. ESQL queries can also be used with relationships to findrelated data.

WinFS Data Sharing

WinFS is about sharing data. It allows easy sharing of data betweenapplications. Not just that, there is provision to share data amongmultiple WinFS stores as well, which might reside in differentcomputers, by copying to and from them. A WinFS item can also be copiedto a non WinFS file system, but unless that data item is put back intoWinFS store, it won't support the advanced services provided by WinFS.

WinFS API also provides some support for sharing with non-WinFSapplications. WinFS exposes a shell object to access WinFS stores. Thisobject, which maps the WinFS items to a virtual folder hierarchy, can beaccessed by any application. Non-WinFS file formats can be stored inWinFS stores as well, using the File Item, provided by WinFS. Importerscan be written which convert specific file formats to WinFS Item types.

WinFS data can also be manually shared using network shares, by sharingthe legacy shell object. In addition, WinFS provides synchronizationservices to automatically synchronize Items in two or more WinFS stores,subject to some predefined condition, such as share only photos or sharephotos which have an associated contact. The stores may be in the samecomputer or on different computers. Synchronization is done in apeer-to-peer mode, eliminating the need to any central authority tomanage the synchronization. Whenever a synchronization, which can beeither manual or automatic or scheduled, is initiated, WinFS enumeratesthe changes, i.e., it finds out which Items are new or changed, andtherefore in need of synchronization, and then update accordingly. Iftwo or more changes are conflicting, WinFS can either resort toautomatic resolution of the conflict, based on predefined rules, or candefer them for manual resolution.

Defining and Extracting a Flat List of Search Properties in WinFS andAlignment with WDS

Extracting Microsoft® Windows Vista operating system (i.e., Windows orWindows Vista) search properties from WinFS data is important to allowWinFS applications to search and categorize data in WinFS. Applicationsthat are WinFS type agnostic can just operate on these search propertiesrather than operating on the individual types. Since these propertiesare stored in Windows Desktop Search (WDS) or Windows Search Engine(WSE) store as well, it allows non WinFS applications written againstWDS application programming interfaces (APIs) to also view searchproperties from WinFS data.

Also, the WinFS independent software vendors (ISVs) can pick themetadata/search properties for their types without compromising theiritem schema design. The ISVs specify mappings between WinFS types andthe Windows search properties. These mappings can be specified by a typedesigner as schema files. For file stream contents in file items, WinFSleverages the Property handlers registered with the Windows propertysystem and extract appropriate search properties.

Referring next to FIG. 7, shown is a block diagram illustrating as anexample the alignment of WinFS content in WDS to accomplish the aboveobjectives. As shown, WinFS notifies 719 WDS about WinFS item 709changes. Then the Protocol Handler 721 is invoked by WDS 715. Searchproperties 701 for the item 709 are then extracted and stored 722 723 inWinFS Store 705 and WDS property store 703 using the WDS components.Properties of WinFS items 709 can then be used in Windows Vista searchand in organization capabilites similar to any other content in WindowsVista. WinFS items 709 are full-text indexed 725 using the WindowsSearch indexer 711. Indexes for WinFS items 709 are stored in the commonindex catalog 713 defined as part of the WDS 715. Full-text queries inWindows platform return WinFS items 709 alongside other non-WinFScontent.

WinFS API 717 surface programs against search properties 701 associatedwith an item 709. This includes querying for these properties 701 andallows updates to these properties 701. The WinFS API 717 query syntaxallows making use of WDS full text query operations. Full-text queriesthrough the WinFS API 717 are also satisfied by the common index catalog713 maintained by WDS. The WinFS Shell Namespace Extension (WinFS SNE)handles generic shell operations over WinFS items 709 like double-clickbindings, icons, thumbnails, etc. WinFS SNE allows updates of searchproperties 701 of WinFS Items 709 using the WinFS API 717.Out-of-the-box WinFS schemas accommodate search property 701 mappingdefinitions and corresponding schema types.

As shown above, rich structured data in WinFS is mapped into a set ofWindows search properties 701, which is a flat list. These properties701 are stored both in the WDS Store (i.e., WDS property store 713) andin the WinFS Store 705. This is applicable not only to WinFS but anyrich structured data that should be mapped into Windows searchproperties 701.

A mapping language is used for mapping search properties from richstructured data types declared as part of a WinFS type schema. Forexample, this mapping language uses a query language for operating onentities in WinFS. The mapping is specified in a separate file from theschema definition using an XML syntax. Windows search properties can bedefined in terms of schematized properties, with simple functions overthem, such as WindowsSearchName :=Contact.FirstName +“”+Contact.LastName. Referring next to FIG. 8, shown is an example ofsuch XML code for search property mappings.

In addition, if the type designer desires these search properties to beupdatable, he/she to provides C# code for doing the reverse mapping fromsearch properties to the appropriate native type properties. Thisreverse mapping indicates that when the user changes the value of searchproperty through WinFS API, this supplied C# code will be invoked tochange the appropriate native type properties.

The process involved in defining and compiling these mappings is asfollows. For defining the mappings at build time, the type designerdefines his/her types in the schema and generates the client C# classesusing the normal schema install mechanism. The type designer (or aseparate mapping designer), defines the Entity Structured Query Language(ESQL) mapping expressions from the WinFS type properties to the Windowssearch properties. These mappings are provided in a separate mappingfile (see FIG. 8). This file is also compiled through WinFS APIG togenerate C# classes. C# classes are compiled to generate the clientassembly.

The mapping file, using specific schema definition language (XML)constructs, can contain the ESQL mapping form multiple types from manydifferent schemas. ESQL Mapping and Update-code for search propertiesare defined on Item, and should be defined/implemented on Item. The ESQLexpression can refer to Links and Fragments for types defined in thesame schema or schemas being referenced through a ‘using’ clause in theschema file where Item is defined. The mappings are installed in anassembly. If an assembly contained mappings for more than one (item)type, one would still install all the mappings in that assembly.

Since the mapping is installed in the catalog whereas type is installedin the store, it is possible to install a mapping for a type that ismissing in one of the stores. The promotion infrastructure will handlethe case where promotion fails due to the type missing in the store.

An installation mechanism is used to install these mappings on a machinewhere WinFS is installed. The mappings are installed on a per-machinebasis. The installation process will generate SQL corresponding to themappings and store this along with associated metadata in WinFS.

This is done as follows:

Copy the assembly onto the machine where WinFS store is installed (ifdifferent from the build machine)

Invoke the install utility as InstallUtil.exe <assemblyName>. The callerof the InstallUtil.exe belongs to the “admin” group on the machine wherethe mappings are being installed.

Then the installation work for search property extraction work isperformed. Once the mappings are installed, WinFS search propertyextraction components will be able to extract the search properties andexpose them through the Windows Vista search mechanisms whenever an itemof the defined type is created or modified.

In general mapping installation includes:

The mapping is installed separately from the schema installation

The install utility and/or interface are provided to extract the ESQLexpression. This utility compiles them into SQL, and calls thecorresponding stored proc to install.

Only system administrators are allowed to install the mapping.Otherwise, an exception will be thrown.

The schema must be installed first before the installation of themapping

The Installer utility will iterate through the supplied client assembly(and the ESQL mapping information associated with it) to generate SQLstatements. These generated SQL statements will be stored in a set oftables in the catalog store on the machine where WinFS is installed.These are used by the WinFS Metadata extraction (Promotion) component atruntime to extract search properties from a given item of certain type.

The metadata about these stored mappings will also be retrieved and usedby the WinFS API demotion infrastructure. To facilitate this, WinFSsearch infrastructure will provide a stored procedure called“GetDemotionAssemblies” that can be called by the WinFS API during thedemotion phase (see code and table below).

During demotion, WinFS API needs to know which set of update codes needto be executed for mapping the values from the changed search propertyto the appropriate properties in the native types. This information isretrieved by calling this stored procedure. This stored procedure doesthe following:

Given an item type and the search property name, it retrieves all therelevant update methods.

Performs appropriate arbitration to prune to the required set of theupdate methods.

The update method information is returned to the WinFS API

CREATE PROCEDURE [System.WinFS.Store].GetDemotionAssemblies  @typeId[System.Storage.Store].TypeId,  @searchPropName NVARCHAR(255), Returns aresult set of  @assembyStrongName NVARCHAR(255),  @classNameNVARCHAR(255),  @methodName NVARCHAR(255) Parameters Name Direction TypeDescription typeId IN [System.Storage.- Type id of the item Store].- forwhich the update TypeId methods are needed searchPropName INNvarchar(255) Canonical name of the search property Result Set Name TypeDescription assemblyName Nvarchar(255) Strong name of the assemblycontaining the update method className Nvarchar(255) Name of the classcontaining the assembly method methodName Nvarchar(255) Name of theupdate method

For file items, WinFS will leverage any defined Windows propertyhandlers for extracting search properties.

If the property handler (an IPropertyStore implementation) for this filetype is already defined as part of the Windows platform on the machinewhere WinFS is also installed, the type designer does not need to doanything extra to get the search properties of this file item type toparticipate in the Windows Search experience. WinFS search propertyextraction components (working inside the Windows Desktop Searchservice) will be able to extract the search properties and expose themthrough the Windows Vista search mechanisms whenever a file item of thedefined type is created or modified in WinFS.

If there is no property handler for this file type in the Windowsplatform, the type designer makes sure that they define one or associatetheir file type with an existing property handler. If the file item hasnative extensions or links defined on it, ESQL mappings are specified toextract any search properties from these native portions of the fileitems. This process is similar to the mapping specification definedearlier.

In addition to WDS property store, search Properties are also stored inthe WinFS store. WinFS store will allow WinFS API and other clients toquery/update search properties using normal SQL syntax. Also, inaddition to promoting the search properties into the Windows Searchproperty store and WinFS store, WinFS application developers can alsoprogram against these search properties using WinFS API. This includescapability for querying search properties as well as updating searchproperties stored in the WinFS Store.

An execution infrastructure utilizes the generated SQL from the mappingsto extract search properties from WinFS items. This infrastructureasynchronously extracts and stores search properties from WinFS datainto WinFS and the WDS store.

Refferring next to FIG. 9, shown is a block diagram illustrating searchproperty extraction and storage. Once the required ESQL mappings andfile property handlers are in place on the WinFS machine for a givenWinFS type, extraction and storage of search properties (i.e., searchproperty promotion) happens automatically whenever an item of that typeis created/modified in the WinFS store. FIG. 9 shows the steps involvedin the promotion process. The components shaded in dark gray color arethe WinFS components/code participating in the promotion process. In theexample scenario used in FIG. 9, an item (native or file item) iscreated/modified in the WinFS Store 705 using WinFS API or Win32 API.Provided below is a description of the control flow during the searchproperty extraction and storage phase. The step numbers specified belowhave corresponding reference numerals shown in FIG. 9:

-   -   901. WinFS notification framework 911 which watches the store        705 for any modifications, sends a notification to the Crawler        component 913 running in the WinFPM process 915.    -   902. Crawler component 913 sends the notification to the Windows        Search Gatherer 917 component using the IGathererNotify        interface 919.    -   903. This notification processing results in invoking the WinFS        Protocol Handler 721 written for the Windows Desktop Search        service.    -   904. Protocol handler 721 examines the modified item and        -   a. If the item is a File Item, it does the following:            -   i. Use APIs provided by the Windows Vista shell                component to find the appropriate PropertyHandler                (IPropertyStore implementation) for this file type and                invokes this PropertyHandler.            -   ii. Extract all the properties from the file stream.            -   iii. Filter 925 out those file properties that are                marked to be stored in the Windows Desktop Search (WDS)                PropertyStore.        -   b. If the item is a WinFS native item:            -   i. No processing is done at this stage    -   905. Invoke the PromoteItem stored procedure 929 in the WinFS        Process 927 and pass the extracted file properties from the        previous step (for native items, no properties are passed in).    -   906. PromoteItem stored procedure 929 does the following        actions:        -   a. Retrieve the mappings stored in the WinFS default store            705 for this item type.        -   b. Apply the SQL mappings to extract the search properties            from the item and its components (fragments).    -   907. Promote Item stored procedure 929 invokes the        “SetSearchProperties” stored procedure 931 in the WinFS store        705 passing in the file properties (if any) sent in from the        protocol handler 721 and native search properties extracted in        the previous step. SetSearchProperties stored procedure 931 does        the following:        -   a. Parse the search properties that need to be set from the            passed in parameters.        -   b. The procedure creates, updates and deletes search            properties for the item. For the given item instance:            -   i. If a search property specified as a parameter does                not currently exist in the WinFS store 705, it creates                the search property.            -   ii. If a search property specified exists in the WinFS                store 705, it is updated.            -   iii. If a search property is not specified as a                parameter, but exists in the WinFS store 705, it is                deleted.    -   908. Promote Item stored procedure 929 returns the extracted        native search properties (if any) back to the WinFS protocol        handler 721.    -   909. WinFS Protocol handler 721 sends both the file properties        that it extracted in step 904 (if any) and the native properties        returned in step 908 to the Windows Desktop Search (WDS)        pipeline 921 to be stored in the Windows Desktop Search property        store 703.

At the end of this process, all the search properties are extracted fromthe modified item and stored in both WinFS Store 705 and the WindowsSearch Property store 703.

The various systems, methods, and techniques described herein may beimplemented with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with acombination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatus of the presentinvention, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form ofprogram code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such asfloppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other machine-readablestorage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into andexecuted by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes anapparatus for practicing the invention. In the case of program codeexecution on programmable computers, the computer will generally includea processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (includingvolatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least oneinput device, and at least one output device. One or more programs arepreferably implemented in a high level procedural or object orientedprogramming language to communicate with a computer system. However, theprogram(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, ifdesired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpretedlanguage, and combined with hardware implementations.

The methods and apparatus of the present invention may also be embodiedin the form of program code that is transmitted over some transmissionmedium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics,or via any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code isreceived and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as an EPROM, agate array, a programmable logic device (PLD), a client computer, avideo recorder or the like, the machine becomes an apparatus forpracticing the invention. When implemented on a general-purposeprocessor, the program code combines with the processor to provide aunique apparatus that operates to perform the indexing functionality ofthe present invention.

While the present invention has been described in connection with thepreferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understoodthat other similar embodiments may be used or modifications andadditions may be made to the described embodiment for performing thesame function of the present invention without deviating there from.Furthermore, it should be emphasized that a variety of computerplatforms, including handheld device operating systems and otherapplication specific hardware/software interface systems, are hereincontemplated, especially as the number of wireless networked devicescontinues to proliferate. Therefore, the present invention should not belimited to any single embodiment, but rather construed in breadth andscope in accordance with the appended claims.

Finally, the disclosed embodiments described herein may be adapted foruse in other processor architectures, computer-based systems, or systemvirtualizations, and such embodiments are expressly anticipated by thedisclosures made herein and, thus, the present invention should not belimited to specific embodiments described herein but instead construedmost broadly.

1. A method for providing search properties of data comprising:providing mappings of search properties of an item of a defined richstructured data type to a corresponding second set of other individualsearch properties utilized by a database search system; storing saidmappings; extracting a corresponding second set of other individualsearch properties for the item using the mappings; and exposing theextracted corresponding second set of other individual search propertiesthrough mechanisms of the database search system whenever an item of thedefined type is created or modified.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising first providing a definition of the rich structured data typein a schema.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the storing said mappingscomprises: generating query language mapping statements corresponding tothe mappings; and storing said statements.
 4. The method of claim 3wherein corresponding second set of other individual search propertiesutilized by the database search system is a flat list.
 5. The method ofclaim 4 wherein the extracting comprises storing the results of thegenerated query language mapping statements corresponding to themappings.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the generated query languagemapping statements are in standard query language (SQL).
 7. A computerreadable medium having instructions thereon for performing the steps ofclaim
 1. 8. A computer readable medium having instructions thereon forperforming the steps of claim
 2. 9. A computer readable medium havinginstructions thereon for performing the steps of claim
 3. 10. A computerreadable medium having instructions thereon for performing the steps ofclaim
 4. 11. A computer readable medium having instructions thereon forperforming the steps of claim
 5. 12. A computer readable medium havinginstructions thereon for performing the steps of claim
 6. 13. A systemfor providing search properties of data comprising: means for providingmappings of search properties of an item of a defined rich structureddata type to a corresponding second set of other individual searchproperties utilized by a database search system; means for storing saidmappings; means for extracting a corresponding second set of otherindividual search properties for the item using the mappings; and meansfor exposing the extracted corresponding second set of other individualsearch properties through mechanisms of the database search systemwhenever an item of the defined type is created or modified.
 14. Thesystem of claim 1 further comprising means for first providing adefinition of the rich structured data type in a schema.
 15. The systemof claim 2 wherein the means for extracting said mappings comprises:means for generating query language mapping statements corresponding tothe mappings; and means for storing said statements.
 16. The system ofclaim 3 wherein the corresponding second set of other individual searchproperties utilized by the database search system is a flat list. 17.The system of claim 4 wherein the means for extracting further comprisesmeans for storing the results of the generated query language mappingstatements corresponding to the mappings.
 18. The system of claim 5wherein the generated query language mapping statements are in standardquery language (SQL).
 19. A system for providing search properties ofdata comprising: an installation mechanism configured to installmappings of search properties of an item of a defined rich structureddata type to a corresponding second set of other individual searchproperties utilized by a database search system; an executioninfrastructure configured to generate query language mapping statementscorresponding to the mappings to extract said corresponding second setof other individual search properties; and a mechanism configured toexpose the extracted corresponding second set of other individual searchproperties for the item whenever an item of the defined rich structureddata type is created or modified.
 20. The system of claim 19 wherein themappings are specified in a separate file from a file which provides aschema definition of the rich structured data type.